Bhutan ( Bhota- Anta in Sanskrit) nestled in the peaks of the Himalayas
is known for’ no smoking ‘, Gross National Happiness in place of Gross Domestic Product.
Students of economics
now currently preparing for board examinations may well wonder as to why they
learnt the formulae for GDP if happiness is the index of growth of the
country. GDP= Consumption +Government Expenditure +Investment – Imports.
Lord
Macaulay imparted us the 3Rs and our education system
is management of intelligence quotient and not the emotional quotient of
students.
However as
an advice to parents, schools unequivocally mention that a child’s performance
is judged by both curricular and co-curricular activities. My friend and I were exempted from appearing
the class 11 final examination as we were performing in an estimable musical
directed by noted theatre personality Barry John. The Principal was later to chair
the CBSE.
A student
performed reasonably well in class 11 , but the performance plummeted in class
12! The teachers and parents could not comprehend why. The pedagogy was not altered,
teachers were of high calibre and the student was obedient, diligent and
attentive in the classroom, yet had gone adrift.
The evaluation
of a student under the prevailing system is purely based on scholastic performance,
on the results of the examinations and various project reports submitted.
Was the
child suffering physically, mentally or the environment of the household too demanding
that it impaired the performance of the student?
Marks
secured are the cynosure of the stakeholders (students, teachers and parents)
on receipt of the report card. Numerically
and mathematically it indicates the
progress or waning of the performance of the student. This is the intelligence
quotient.
Seldom do
stakeholders pay attention to a page in the report card called the students profile.
This lucidly captures the psychology
and personality traits of the student which in a subtle manner amplifies the
performance of the child.
Some of the
parameters which shape the personality
of the student include academic motivation, self – discipline , leadership
qualities exhibited, integrity , habits
, concern for others , ability to accept criticism , respect gained from peers , academic creativity , emotional
maturity , originality in thought process, ability to take up responsibility,
tolerance and frustration levels and respect gained from the faculty.
These are important
psychological parameters and personality traits of any student. These get transformed into their superiority in studies and success
in studies, development of leadership qualities and accomplishment in activities,
interaction with peers and overall personality growth of the
student. To my mind this reflects the emotional quotient of
the child reflecting confidence and happiness levels.
The
stakeholders need to nurture the characteristics of emotional quotient as it
has a direct bearing on the performance of the student.
Students are
marked good or average in the boxes of personality traits as mentioned based on
the assessment of the teacher. This is Lord Macaulay’s iteration adopted as perhaps
this is the only framework or skeleton we have
developed to evaluate the child. The mentee is categorised willy nilly
based on the academic performance without factoring in development / decline in
the personality traits. Interestingly these traits are shockingly for normally
the current academic term or year without juxtaposing it with the previous
year’s one.
Martin
Luther King Jr wrote,” The function of education is to teach one to think
intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character -that is the
goal of education.”
A holistic
assessment of a student should aim to
evaluate the sum of both emotional and intelligence quotient.
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